FAQS: PVAAS and Transition of PA’s Assessment System Keystones and the PA Common Core PSSA PAIU CC December 14, 2012 Kristen Lewald, PVAAS Statewide Director

EVAAS METHODOLOGY FOR PVAAS REPORTING

The EVAAS methodology was published in open literature in The methodology is research-based and has been peer-reviewed by numerous external researchers (ex. RAND, WestEd). See PDE website for document on PVAAS methodology (March 2010).

SAS EVAAS for K-12 has been providing value-added reporting at the district and school level since 1992, and teacher-level value-added reporting since 1996.

SAS EVAAS for K-12 provides statewide value-added reporting at the district and school level in 4 states (Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania). Additionally, SAS EVAAS for K-12 provides district- and school-level value-added in 30 regions/districts across the country.

SAS EVAAS for K-12 provides value- added reporting at the teacher level in 3 states (Tennessee, Ohio, and North Carolina) with Pennsylvania being added in SY Additionally, SAS EVAAS for K-12 provides teacher-level value-added reporting in 24 regions/districts across the country.

SAS EVAAS for K-12 has provided value-added reporting since 1992 as numerous states, regions, and districts have made the transitions to new assessments.

SAS EVAAS for K-12 will not provide value-added reporting on assessment data unless it meets three specific criteria. Must be aligned to curriculum standards. Must be reliable and valid. Must demonstrate sufficient stretch at the extremes (both low and high achievement). Pennsylvania’s state assessment data is assessed annually to ensure the quality needed to provide value-added reporting at all levels for all students.

PDE’s Deputy Secretary and Educator Effectiveness Work Group, PDE’s Bureau of Assessment and Accountability, along with the PVAAS Statewide Team: Work has been underway with SAS EVAAS for K-12 since early 2012 regarding PVAAS reporting and Pennsylvania’s transition to Keystone exams and the PSSA aligned to the PA Common Core.

This work is being done to ensure a smooth transition with PVAAS reporting for Pennsylvania’s schools. The goal has always been, and will continue to be, to provide fair, accurate, and meaningful value- added measures for PA districts, schools, and teachers.

PVAAS AND KEYSTONE EXAMS:

#1. When will PVAAS provide reporting to the Keystones? PDE is planning for the fall 2013 PVAAS reporting to include value-added/growth reporting on the Keystone exams administered in and PVAAS student projections to future Keystone exams.

#2. Which students will be included in the PVAAS value-added/growth reporting on the Keystone exams? Students enrolled in a Keystone- related course when they took the Keystone exam will be included in reporting.

#3. Which students will have projections to future Keystone exams? Students who have not yet taken a Keystone exam; AND Students who have already taken a grade 5 PSSA testing(anticipated); AND Students enrolled in a Keystone- related course AND were not Proficient on a prior Keystone exam

#4. Will students who take a Keystone exam as a re-test be included in the PVAAS value-added/growth reporting for the Keystone exams? Students taking a Keystone exam as a re-test will be included ONLY if the student is enrolled in a Keystone-related course when they re- tested on the Keystone exam. If a student receives supplemental services/remediation, they are only included in PVAAS value-added reporting IF they are retaking the Keystone-related course, followed by retaking the Keystone exam.

#5. Will all students taking a Keystone exam be included in ONE value-added/growth report? For example, our LEA/district will be administering the Algebra I Keystone exam this year to 8th, 9th, and 11th graders. Will all of those students be included in one growth report for the Algebra I Keystone exam?

Reporting on the Keystone exams will be provided based on those students who are enrolled in a Keystone-related course and took the Keystone exam at the end of the course in Students who were NOT enrolled in a Keystone-related course, but took a Keystone exam for AYP purposes only will NOT be included in PVAAS Keystone reporting.

The PVAAS Keystone reporting is NOT reported by grade level, it is reported by Keystone exam and by LEA/district and school.

#4. How can we estimate growth when the Keystone exams are different assessments than the PSSA? The model that will be used to estimate growth for Keystone exams is the same as the PVAAS model currently in place for the grade 11 PSSA.

#5. How can you project to a Keystone exam when the student hasn’t taken a Keystone exam yet to get that history?

Projections to the Keystone exam are not available until after the first group of Pennsylvania students have taken the assessment (SY12-13). Once data from the first year of Keystone testing is available (summer 2013), SAS EVAAS will link those students to their prior PSSA data.

SAS EVAAS will use the relationship of those students’ Keystone scores with their prior PSSA data to determine where students who have not yet taken a Keystone exam are likely to score, given how students with similar testing histories performed on the first year of administration.

PDE is planning to provide PVAAS projections to future Keystone exams in the fall of 2013 for students who have not yet taken the Keystone exam and for students not-proficient on the SY12-13 Keystone exam(if they WERE enrolled in a Keystone related course)

#6. How can you project to a Keystone exam from the PSSA data when those are different assessments? Based on the first year of Keystone administration (SY12-13), SAS EVAAS will have statewide data for students testing on both the PSSA and each respective Keystone exam.

SAS EVAAS will utilize the relationship established between scores of students who took the Keystone exam and their previous PSSA scores to determine how past performance on PSSA influences scores on the Keystone exam. The PVAAS methodology used to yield projections to future Keystone exams will be the same methodology that has been used for projections to the 11th grade PSSA.

#7. Will the growth measures we receive in fall 2013 be reliable given PA schools are administering the Keystone exams for the first time during SY12-13? How can the model be determined with only one year of data?

The PVAAS value-added model that is being used for the Keystone exams is designed in a way that it will easily accommodate the transition to the new test. The model is based on the relationship of the prior testing history of students who took the Keystone exam to their Keystone scores; there is a large wealth of this PSSA data available.

The value-added model compares how students in each school performed to how the average school in the state performed with students with a similar testing history. Therefore in the first year SAS EVAAS will be able to make that comparison.

PVAAS AND PA COMMON CORE PSSA:

#1. Will there be a year or two when we do not get PVAAS reports as PA is transitioning to a PSSA aligned to the PA Common Core? No, PDE is NOT anticipating any gap in reporting from PVAAS. This is due to the capabilities of the EVAAS methodology to address changes in assessments within a statewide assessment system. SAS EVAAS has significant experience in working with states and large districts through transitions of an assessment system.

#2. How can we have reliable estimates of growth when the PSSA is changing and will now be based on the PA Common Core? The base year for reporting will be reset once the PA Common Core PSSA is administered. The base year will be reset on the PSSA starting with SY PDE anticipates resetting the base year for SY12-13, SY13-14 and SY14-15.

#3. How can we have accurate projections to PSSAs (even our current projections) when those students will be taking a “new” PSSA based on the PA Common Core?

The projection model used for the new PSSA is the same as the projection model being used for Keystone exams. Furthermore, since SAS EVAAS is mapping the scores to have a consistent distribution from year to year, SAS EVAAS will be able to use the previous version of the PSSA mixed with the new version of the PSSA to determine the relationship between the scores, and allow the PVAAS system to estimate where students will perform in future years given their prior testing history.

Understanding PVAAS! District/School Reporting to Teacher Reporting District/School Value-Added  Teacher Value-Added District/School Performance Diagnostic Report  Diagnostic Report

Questions? Contact the PVAAS Statewide Team for PDE